1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to voltage translators in general, and, in particular, to bi-directional voltage translators. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a bi-directional voltage translator for converting voltage levels between circuits having different voltage requirements.
2. Description of Related Art
The reduction in integrated circuit device dimensions on a wafer has necessitated the reduction in operating voltages of the integrated circuit devices to avoid latch-up and other reliability problems. With the current processing technology, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices generally operate at 3.3 volts or 2.5 volts, and there are efforts to reduce the operating voltages even further.
The operating voltages of legacy integrated circuit devices are generally higher than those of the newer generation integrated circuit devices. In order to couple integrated circuits having different operating voltages to each other, an interface, such as a voltage translator, is required to convert voltages between circuits with different operating voltages.
Prior art voltage translators are able to isolate a bus from its sub-bus(es), but are not able to pull down the output voltage to a lower offset. As a result, the offsets of prior art voltage translators are increased. Consequently, it is desirable to provide an improved voltage translator having an isolation occurred between a bus and its sub-bus(es) such that the output voltage can be shunted to a lower offset.